MIAMI (Dec. 13, 2021) – The FIU women's basketball team hits the road to battle an in-state foe on Tuesday evening, when the Panthers take on Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Florida.
 
Tipoff against the Wildcats is slated for 6 p.m. ET from Moore Gymnasium.

FOLLOW LIVE
The game will be streamed on CatEye Network via Bethune-Cookman's YouTube page.

Live stats for the game can be found here. 

BETHUNE-COOKMAN PREVIEW
FIU enters the contest against BCU with a 5-3 record, including a 1-1 mark on the road. The Panthers have played six of their eight games this season at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center (OBCC) and are set to compete in their first road game since Nov. 17. FIU is coming off an impressive win against UNF (53-51) back on Dec. 4 at the OBCC. The Panthers have benefited with 10 days of preparation heading into the contest against the Wildcats.

BCU has posted a 2-6 record this season and dropped its most recent contest at UNF (47-60) on Sunday, Dec. 12. The Wildcats now face a quick turnaround as they look to bounce back against FIU and remain undefeated at home. A win against the Panthers would improve BCU's record to 3-0 at Moore Gymnasium this season. All of BCU's losses have come on the road, with the Wildcats falling to UMiami (43-55), FAU (65-85), Troy (58-84), Mississippi State (53-94), and Alabama (45-89). BCU's two wins have come against NAIA opponents Edward Waters (70-58) and Warner University (73-56).

INSIDE THE SERIES
FIU leads the all-time series against Bethune-Cookman by a margin of 10-5. The Panthers and Wildcats last faced off on Nov. 19, 2019, as BCU took a 65-60 decision in Miami.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
BCU is led offensively by junior guard Morgan Beacham, who is averaging a team-high 12.5 points per game this season while also pacing the squad in field-goal percentage (.430), 3-point percentage (.462), and total assists (18).

Freshman center Kayla Clark leads the Wildcats with 7.7 rebounds per game.

On the defensive end, freshman forward Kayla White leads BCU with 12 total steals, while Beacham ranks first on BCU with seven blocks.

As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 56.8 ppg while shooting .335 percent from the field and .254 from beyond the arc. BC allows an average of 72.6 points per game from its opponents.

FIU BY THE NUMBERS
FIU has made 51 three-point attempts this season which ranks fifth overall among all 14 Conference USA teams. The Panthers also rank top-five in the league with 6.38 treys per contest.

The FIU defense has allowed a stingy 58.5 points per game this season, which ranks fifth-best in the league.

FIU has had success keeping opponents off the boards this season as the Panthers have given up 32.88 rebounds per game, which ranks second-best in C-USA.

Fifth-year transfer Ariel Colon leads FIU in scoring (14.1 ppg) while shooting an efficient .453 percent clip from the field. Colon also leads FIU in 3-point shooting percentage (.357) and ranks second on the squad in three-pointers made (15). Colon ranks seventh in C-USA in field-goal percentage and ninth in 3-pointers made per-game (1.88).

Sharpshooting forward Kyla Nelson is leading FIU with 17 made 3-pointers this season and also ranks fifth in C-USA with 2.13 threes per game.

FIU has three players in Colon, Nelson (.347), and Olivia Trice (.345) that are hovering around the 35 percent mark from beyond the arc while having attempted at least 20 treys.

Forward Emerald Ekpiteta leads FIU with 7.3 rebounds per game, while Colon ranks second with 4.9.

Graduate students Nelson and Ekpiteta rank second and third on FIU in scoring with 10.8 ppg and 9.3 ppg, respectively.

Freshman guard Tanajah Hayes is having a nice two-way impact for FIU this season as the Panther leads the squad with 19 total assists and 15 steals while shooting an impressive 50 percent on field-goal attempts. 

Colon is tied for the team-lead in steals with Hayes. Trice ranks second on FIU with 13 dimes.

Four Panthers have recorded double-digit steals on the year, including Hayes, Colon, Nelson (12), and Ekpiteta (12).

Sophomore Maria Torres leads FIU with one block per game.
 
LAST TIME OUT 
The Panther defense kept in check a potent UNF offense that was averaging 48 percent shooting from the field and 82 points per game, as the Ospreys shot only 39 percent against FIU and scored 30 points less than their per-game average.
 
Colon led the Panthers with 19 points off the bench while pulling down six boards and contributing a big block in the final moments to seal the victory for FIU.

Nelson dropped 18 points and four assists for the Blue & Gold while sinking a game-high four 3-pointers, including a clutch corner-three with 51 seconds remaining in regulation to seize the lead for FIU.

Raquel Ferrer-Bernad logged her first start of the season and recorded a game-high four assists.

The Blue & Gold bench outscored UNF's second unit by a margin of 28-15.

UP NEXT
FIU is back at the OBCC to host the Holiday Hoops Showdown, beginning with a contest against Binghamton on Monday, Dec. 20, at 11 a.m. ET. The Panthers close out the tournament on Dec. 21, against UMass Lowell at 1 p.m.

TICKETS
For tickets to all upcoming women's basketball home games, click here.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Get all the latest information on the team by following @FIUWBB on Facebook and @FIU_WBB on Twitter and @FIUWBB on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at @FIUSports on Facebook and @FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.